Victimblaming As A Norm Of Life # Samaduravinovata - Society

What does a person who has lost their wallet hear from friends and colleagues? That's right: "Well, you are a muddler", "I suppose he was in your pocket?", "And I don't carry cash with me," etc. Have they robbed an apartment? "I should have set the alarm", "I have good locks." Are you sick? "But I eat right and go in for sports." Well, and the classics of the genre: “Rape? It is her own fault, there is nothing to go to clubs in a short skirt. "

The phenomenon of a just world

Why do people react in such a way to other people's misfortunes and suffering? Is this mass atrocity? Not at all. By blaming the victim, we strive to maintain faith in a just world. "To each - according to his deeds", "What you sow, so you reap" - the postulates of this faith.

When something bad happens to another person, we want to think that he did something to deserve that fate. Why is it convenient for us to think so? The fact is that if we accept the fact that the world is unfair, we will be very scared to live in it. We will have to come to terms with the idea that misfortune can happen to anyone, including our loved ones and us, such good people. We cling to the illusion of a just world in order to maintain calm and confidence in the future.

In 1966, the American psychologist Melvin Lerner conducted an experiment at the University of Kansas. Participants watched a woman solve math problems. If she was wrong, she was electrocuted. The “spectators” did not know that they were facing an actress who pretended to be in pain. At first, the participants in the experiment were very upset about the woman's suffering. But as the electric shocks continued and the participants could not influence the course of the experiment, they began to speak negatively about the appearance and character of the victim. The stronger the electric shocks, the angrier the attacks became. But when the participants were told that the victim would be paid monetary compensation, the attacks stopped. According to Lerner, this reaction of the subjects stemmed from the desire for justice. The suffering of the innocent victim contradicted this desire and required psychological justification. To test the hypothesis, Lerner conducted a number of experiments, summarizing his findings in the article "Research and the attribution process of a just world" and the book "Faith in a just world: a fundamental fallacy", published in the late seventies.

Public opinion spares the hawk and punishes the chicken

Juvenal

To accept the world's injustice is very painful. It is much more pleasant and convenient to believe in karma, the universal circulation of good, and even in Ole Lukkoye. After all, only over obedient children did he open a multi-colored umbrella so that they would have good dreams. On one side of the scales - we, so correct and wonderful, on the other - lazy people, fools and other scum of society.

Everything is clear and understandable. In fact, our well-being, although not completely, still depends on our family, place of birth and - yes, yes - happy chance.

Harmful illusion

The benefits of a favorite myth are obvious - calmness and confidence in ourselves, in our loved ones. Belief in a just world is a guarantee of mental health, a protective mechanism of our consciousness. Thanks to our faith, we can enjoy without fearing every moment for our lives.

It is our resource for survival in a world full of violence, poverty and disease. Is there any harm from believing in a just world? Yes, this is a false sense of security. "I don't do anything bad, so nothing terrible will happen to me." Accidents, rape, poverty - none of this is for me. This logic can lead to unjustifiably risky behavior and, as a result, to a greater likelihood of receiving "undeserved punishment".

Another bad effect of believing in justice is self-accusation. Victims of perpetrators often blame themselves for what happened, causing themselves additional suffering. People endlessly replay a terrible event in their heads, mentally changing their behavior. At the same time, it is not taken into account that it is always the culprit who is to blame - the rapist, the robber or the car reckless driver.

The structure of victimization

Lerner conducted an experiment in which two participants solved puzzles. At the end of the experiment, one of them was randomly awarded a large sum of money. Students observing the experiment were told that the award was awarded by chance. But when asked to rate the performance of the men, observers said that the recipient was smarter and completed the tasks faster. We are ready to deceive ourselves, so that the world seems fair.

Of course, we see how corrupt officials bathe in luxury, and teachers work for a penny. But this reality is terribly unpleasant, and we persuade ourselves that everything is fine, it should be so. Here lies the error of thinking, a cognitive distortion, which consists in the fact that we explain the actions of other people by their moral and physical qualities. In doing so, we ignore external factors.

But after all, accepting the injustice of the world does not at all mean that nothing needs to be done to improve it

We can successfully overcome adversity and help others to do so. By the way, in the conducted experiments the observers belittled the “victim” when they could not intervene and change its fate. We cannot always "correct" tragic events, but we can at least show sympathy for the people who have become their victims.

As soon as you want to say the phrases: "I would be in your place …", "You shouldn't have …", "How could you not have foreseen …", just remember the mistakes of thinking and keep silent. Don't hurt with accusations

You should not increase the injustice of this world, it is already imperfect.